


The One He Lost

by Auduna_Druitt



Series: The many companions of James T. Kirk [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, He did what he could, He had friends, Jim is a protector, Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 15:45:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12345723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auduna_Druitt/pseuds/Auduna_Druitt
Summary: Jim is thirteen and has been sent away by his uncle. He makes friends and is almost the happiest he's been in a while but, then as always, things change.





	The One He Lost

The ship with a new group of colonists arrived right on schedule. Jim had made friends with an Andorian boy named Charlie and his sister Oona. Charlie’s family had invited him to come over whenever he liked. He didn’t wait long to take them up on the offer. He dropped his things at his uncle’s friends house and was made to stay in his room for the rest of the day. As soon as he could slip away he went straight to the house assigned to Charlie’s family

A couple of days later he went to Charlie’s and they headed out to play. When they were halfway down the street Jim nudged Charlie. “Who’s she?”

Charlie looked over at the girl in question. “Don’t know, she wasn’t on our ship.”

The girl with the dark curly hair smiled and Jim felt his heart do a flip. She had a beautiful smile and even prettier eyes. He wanted to talk to her but he didn’t know what to say, at least not until about a week later. He was walking down the street on his way to meet Charlie when he saw a couple of boys teasing another little boy. He ran over and stood between them. “Why don’t you go pick on someone your own size?”

The two boys took off running and Jim turned to the little boy. “You okay?”

He nodded and wiped his face with his sleeve. “They were teasing me because of my limp.”

“Can you help it if you have a limp?”

“Uh uh.”

“I don’t care if you have a limp… I’m J.T. by the way, but you can call me Jimmy if you want.”  

“Noah!”

Jim put his arm around the younger boys shoulders and turned around. The girl with the dark curly hair was running up to them.

“Noah! I was worried about you! Where did you go?” 

The little boy beamed up at her. “This is Jimmy! He made those mean boys do away!”

She looked up at him and smiled, “Thanks. He kind of got away from me this morning.”

Now that Jim was seeing her up close he noticed her big brown eyes and felt butterflies when she looked at him. Noah tugged on his shirt and he looked down. “This is Abra. She’s my sister!”

Jim looked up at her, “Abra?”

“That’s just what he calls me. I do little magic tricks for him sometimes.”

“Abracadabra?”

She smiled again and he knew he was a goner.

From that moment on Noah became Jim’s shadow. He followed the older boys everywhere and his sister often joined them. Jim loved having friends and really enjoyed leading them on adventures in the woods surrounding the colony. They played in the trees, occasionally throwing or kicking a ball around, but their favorite thing to do was explore the caves hidden in the hill.

They enjoyed the peace and the quiet of the woods and the caves. They made one of the caves their little hideaway from the colony. They would pack their lunches and spend the day in the cool darkness. Jim and Charlie would tell stories and Abra and Noah would sit silently listening to every word. 

Jim was the first to notice their lunches were getting smaller. When Noah finished his and pouted as he watched Abra eating the rest of hers, Jim gave him part of his sandwich. “I’m not that hungry anyway.”

Noah accepted the sandwich eagerly, “Thank you!”

A week later they had a half a sandwich each. Jim gave them his lunch and he ate some of the edible berries he found nearby. He couldn’t let his friends go hungry, especially Noah. 

After a month and a half of steadily decreasing rations, the announcement was made that there would be a selection of people gathered in the square. There was a rumor that there wasn’t enough food for everyone until the relief ships arrived. The rumor was also that those chosen by the governor were going to die. Jim slipped through the crowded square and stared up at the governor as he gave his speech. 

“The revolution is successful. But survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered, signed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV.”

Jim took off running through the crowd heading straight for Charlie’s house. He found the house empty. Charlie and his parents and his sister were gone. Running back through the crowded streets he looked everywhere for Noah and his sister or even Charlie’s family. Finally spotting the familiar white blonde hair and blue antennae of Charlie’s sister he rushed over to her and grabbed her hand. 

“Where’s Charlie?” he asked her. 

She sniffled and pointed toward the square. “Mommy and daddy and Charlie went there. Charlie told me to hide but I don’t know where…”

“Stay with me Oona. I’ll keep you safe.”

He took her to the cave hideaway in the woods. “Stay here. I’m going to go back and look for Charlie okay?”

She nodded and sat down on the dirt floor of the little cave while he ran back to the colony. Slipping through the crowd and past some guards he found a small paddock that used to have horses but was now holding children. They were crying for their parents. He spotted a familiar face inside and squeezed through. “Noah!”

The little boy turned and looked at him with a dirty tear streaked face. “Jimmy!”

He wrapped his arms around the boy. “Where’s your sister? Where’s Abra?”

Noah buried his face in Jim’s shirt. “I lost her! She told me to hold on tight but I lost her!”

Jim patted the boy on the head, “It’s okay Noah, we’ll find her. “

Leading the little boy to the back of the paddock he helped him through the fence and slipped out after him. Leading him into the wood to the little cave he tells him to stay with Oona. “I’m going to go see if I can find the others. Stay here and stay quiet alright?”

The two nodded and Jim took off again. He searched the paddock and both of his friends houses with no sign of either of them. On his second round of searching at the paddock he pulled two of the youngest kids out and ran. One on his back clinging on as tight as he could and the other trying his best to keep up. He left the four children in the cave and instructed them to go a little deeper into the cave. 

When he got back to the paddock it was empty and a new group was being brought into the square. He watched through a window as children were pulled away from their parents, children shoved to one side and parents to the other. Seeing a window, he ran to one of the families in the group shoved toward the paddock. “I can help!” he whispered urgently. “I can hide your daughter!”

The parents exchanged a look and looked down at their girl. The mom hugged her tightly and the dad kissed her on the forehead before nodding to her. “Go with him.” he said as a tear slipped down his face.

The daughter hesitated but slipped out and followed Jim to the cave. “There’s four little kids here already. Keep them inside and try and keep them quiet. The less noise they make the more likely we are to stay hidden.”

She nodded and ducked inside.

He returned to the square three more times and returned with another kid each time. As darkness fell the square emptied and the colony grew deathly quiet. He scavenged some food from an empty house and grabbed Oona’s favorite doll before heading back to the cave in the woods.

Over the next couple of weeks he frequently returned to the colony to scavenge for food and look for his friends. Jim and the older kids took turns keeping watch at the mouth of the cave every night while the little kids slept. 

About a month after the massacre Jim headed out to look for food in the forest. When he returned with some berries and fresh water. The older blonde girl named Eaven met him at the mouth of the cave. 

“Noah is missing.”

He dropped the water container and ran into the cave. One, two, three kids asleep on one wall….four, five, six kids asleep on the other wall…Eaven standing at the entrance….

“How long?” he asked turning back to her.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. They were all asleep when you left, I just ducked behind the bush for a minute. When I came back he was gone.”

“He probably went looking for me. Wake Micah and have him help you keep an eye on the others while I go look for him.”

She nodded and he disappeared into the brush. Several hours later he reappeared empty handed.

When help arrived a couple of weeks later they found seven scared and hungry children hiding in a cave and one boy standing guard over them, just as hungry and just as scared but still determined to protect the others. 

He led the children to the extraction point and they beamed up to the waiting ship. Oona wouldn’t let go of Jim and he had to reassure her that they would be alright. They were all checked out and thoroughly cleaned up before they were sat down and given something to eat. They all stared at the plates set in front of them and then looked to Jim. He nodded and they dug in. He turned to one of their rescuers. “Are there others?”

“Other what?”

“Survivors. I’m looking for a couple of friends…”

“You kids are the only ones unaccompanied. The rest are families.”

“Oh.” he said turning back to his plate. He pushed the food around but didn’t eat more than a couple of bites. 

When the nurses went to check on the children later that evening they found their rooms empty. Searching the ship they found the children in Jim’s room, all huddled around him. He looked up at them with red rimmed eyes and a tear streaked face. “Are they really gone? Abra and Charlie are gone?”

One of the nurses nods, “I’m afraid so…”


End file.
